By Dhirendra Prasad Sah, Janakpur, Feb. 13: With the start of the 'dry run' operation of the Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway service on Sunday, locals in Janakpur have been elated that the rail service will come into operation for the passengers soon.

The dry run of the railway began some 15 months after the train sets were brought here from India.

Until the railway service is inaugurated officially, the dry run will take place at least once a day, and the official inauguration is expected to be held by the end of February.

The dry run was held after the successful completion of the trial run.

The train was brought to Janakpur rail station from Inarwa of Dhanusha for the dry run.

The locals in Janakpur welcomed the train as it arrives at the station.

Lal Kishor Yadav, chief of Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City, observed that the city dwellers were happy for the successful initiation of the dry run.

"People here are waiting for the regular passenger rail service, and hopefully, those days are only two weeks away," he said.

Jitendra Mahaseth, Chairperson of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Janakpur, viewed that the dry run has made all optimistic that the passenger railway service will start soon.

Ravindra Sah, an engineer of Nepal Railway Company, said that the dry run was started as a trial for the operation of regular passenger services.

General Manager of the Company, Niranjan Jha, informed that the dry run was for a technical check-up of the entire railway as the train was kept without operation for 17 months.

General Manager Jha informed that preparations were underway for the official inauguration (virtually) of the 34.9 km long Kurtha-Jayanagar railway by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi by February end.

The fair for the AC seat from Janakpur to Jayanagar in India is fixed at Rs. 300 while it is Rs. 70 for the normal seat. Jha said 14 technicians of Konkan Railway Corporation of India, the company from which the government of Nepal purchased the train sets at Rs. 846 million, including the driver, were mobilised for the dry run.